Despite the Republicans’ attempts to derail the economic recovery, it stubbornly refuses to listen to their rhetoric. Gallup does its own surveys for unemployment and underemployment, and it is finding even better news than the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week.

Gallup’s survey found unemployment at 7.3%, down from its peak of 11.2%. It also found that — when counting underemployment — the number is now down from its peak of 20.5% to a more manageable 16.4%.

As ever, the bad news for the GOP’s hopes to use the economy as a weapon against the president is good news for the American people.